The Lone Traveler and the Brothers Dumbledore
by comicnut
Summary: Saving a young girl's life is par for the course for Harry Traveler. But that simple act led to so much than even Trelawney could have foretold. For the Professional and Dunuelos and their great Lone Traveler stories.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated characters and situations are owned by JK Rowling. The Lone Traveler story/concept was created by the Professional.

I've greatly enjoyed Dunuelos' continuation of the Professional's story/concept. It inspired me to write this little story as a thank you.

* * *

 _"The Lone Traveler: Young man who tried to change the past and save those he loved… plan failed and became the Lone Traveler, wandering through time and reality, making a difference wherever he went… very powerful… defeated a powerful Dark wizard styling himself a Lord… swept along the path he walked by a spectacular aura of blue light."_

 _'Legends & Myths of the Wizarding World' by Gertrude Yolanda_

* * *

The Lone Traveler and the Brothers Dumbledore

Harry Traveler emerged into a new reality quite close to a medium sized English cottage, only to immediately hear spell fire coming from within. He quickly moved to the front door and cracked it open to peer inside.

Inside, he spotted three teens in wizarding robes, viciously dueling with some rather nasty spells. And crouched behind a table was a still younger girl, eyes shut, hand's over her ears and a look of fear on her face.

Harry drew his wand preparing to try to stop the duel before someone got hurt, when he saw the girl suddenly bolt upright and run for the door – right into the line of spellfire.

Harry leapt towards the girl, shouting _protego_ as he went. He just barely intercepted her, catching her in one arm, in time to catch a dark spell on his shield that would have hit the girl.

The dueling instantly stopped, as two of the teens shouted "Ari!" and ran to them. Harry released the girl and the two teens, obviously her brothers by their looks, hugged the girl, asking if she was alright. The third teen took advantage of this distraction and ran out the door.

Harry considered for a moment taking his leave now that the danger had passed, but there was something about the situation here that was striking a chord in his memory, so he waited.

Shortly, having satisfied themselves as to the girl's well-being, the two teens turned to Harry. "Sir, we cannot thank you enough, for what you did for our sister. If you had not come along, Ariana might have been..." said the older teen, breaking off with a pained look on his face. The other teen nodded, his arms still encircling the girl, Ariana. "The Dumbledore family owes you a great debt, Mr...?"

Harry suddenly realized why the situation was familiar. This was the tragedy that had destroyed Albus Dumbledore. His thoughts raced as he considered his answer. "I have been known by many names over the years. I am most often known as the Lone Traveler."

Looks of astonishment appeared on the brother's faces while Ariana's was puzzled. She spoke up shyly. "The Lone Traveler? That's a strange name."

Looks of embarrassment appeared on the brother's faces and Aberforth muttered a "Sorry, Sir."

Harry responded with a small smile and a look of amusement. He waved a hand at Albus, who looked as if he intended to respond to Ariana's statement.

Nodding, gratefully, Albus squeezed her shoulder and said, "The Lone Traveler is a ... famous person." Harry had a suspicion that Albus had substituted 'famous' for another word. Legendary, perhaps? Or maybe mythological?

"According to the stories, he is a wizard that fought and defeated a terrible dark lord only to suffer a great tragedy. In attempting a dangerous spell to reverse this tragedy, he found himself traveling from place to place and time to time, often appearing in time to help someone else in great need, as he did with us today."

Ariana nodded and an awed look appeared on her face as she looked at Harry. Only to have that look be dislodged by a jaw cracking yawn. Albus and Aberforth watched her with fond amusement. Aberforth smiled and said, "Come Ariana, let's get you to your room, so you can have a lie down." He grabbed her hand and tugged her along, Ariana protesting all the way that she wasn't tired.

Albus turned to Harry, "The stories also say that when the Lone Traveler has finished his tasks that he disappears in a blue light."

"And phoenix song. But since that hasn't happened yet, there must be something more for me to do. As of yet though, I haven't a clue as to what that might be."

Albus replied, "Then may I offer you a place to stay until you do? It seems to be the least we can do for you after saving Ariana."

Harry demurred, quite sure that the Dumbledore's had limited room in their cottage for a guest and that he could easily obtain a bed at the Leaky Cauldron.

Albus protested, "At least let me offer you a meal in thanks. Our mother was a very good cook and she ensured that we were well trained to set a fine meal."

Harry was about to say no, when he felt a strong urge well up to say yes. His stomach growling somewhat fiercely may have also influenced his decision. Thinking that just maybe he was being guided here, he did so.

* * *

Over the next hour Harry watched the Dumbledore brothers work together to fix an enormous meal. And while they worked and ate, they asked Harry questions about he and his travels. Albus had apologized if he at any time offended, saying that he had an insatiable curiosity and that it had been aroused most strongly at the thought of learning more about their visitor.

Harry hadn't minded. That urge to say yes had transmuted into one that urged him to answer Albus' questions. And so he told them, in vague general terms without naming names, of his so-called relatives, learning of being a wizard, his years at Hogwarts, his encounters with his 'Dark Lord', and some of his encounters in alternate realities.

The siblings had in turn been appalled, delighted, astonished and awed. Harry felt some satisfaction at that. Apparently, if he ever stopped 'Traveling' he might be able to enjoy a career as a story teller.

As the questions tailed off, Albus' face took on a pensive look. At Harry's own inquiring look, Albus spoke. "You stated that your Headmaster was a greatly respected wizard, renowned for his magical skills, his knowledge and his wisdom. Regarded by many as the next Merlin. One who had defeated a Dark Lord in one war and defended against another in two more. And yet, he knowingly left you with relatives who despised magic, he neglected to teach you the skills you would need to fight your own Dark Lord, he allowed those dangerous situations to develop each year and he willfully denied you the information you needed to make informed decisions until he deemed you ready to hear it."

"Not to mention that he did very little to actually fix the problems created by the teachers or the situations," added Aberforth. "leaving it to students to fix."

Albus nodded in agreement. "So it puzzles me, how he might be so well regarded. I myself, find little to admire about him."

Harry couldn't help but inwardly smile to himself at the irony of that statement.

Harry replied, "As the years have gone by, I have come to realize a number of important things. Wisdom is something that grows out of knowledge, understanding, experience and empathy. We start out as impetuous, ignorant youth and grow into understanding and then into wisdom. But it should always be remembered that just as no one can know or understand everything, no one can be all wise. Even an extremely knowledgeable and capable man can still make mistakes, learn wrong information, misunderstand and choose the wrong path. And that our own personal flaws can blind us to having made those mistakes.

"Second is that humans, whether wizard or muggle, have a tendency to exaggerate reputations and the passing of time causes heroes to become more heroic, and villains more monstrous. And far too many will believe what they want to believe, out of pride, fear, envy, hate or any number of reasons. Always seek out the truth of the matter.

"My Headmaster had an intuitive understanding of many branches of magic, a deep knowledge of several and a broad knowledge of many more. He also had a reputation as a wise teacher, knowledgeable in his subject, a dueler of great skill and power, the defeater of a Dark Lord and the holder of many important titles.

"What he didn't have was many peers who could match his knowledge or understanding, who could challenge him and correct his path when he made mistakes. And he did make some big ones. And because of his reputation, many people wanted to believe that he was wise and would make the right choices. And they were all too willing to allow him to make the difficult choices for them, believing that he was the wiser man.

Harry sighed. "I've made my own share of mistakes in the past. Mistakes that have cost me... and people dear to me. I've had my own reputation to deal with and the way it pushed me to make various choices. I could have wished that the Headmaster had solved many of the problems in my life before they got to me, but I do have to admit that me dealing with them gave me the knowledge and understanding to become better. Who knows... maybe that was the Headmasters plan. I can't say, he didn't share that with me. Could he have made better choices? I've met alternate versions of my Headmaster who did and versions who made worse. And versions of myself who did the same.

"In the end, all we can do is strive to do better, to think things through when we can, be aware of our own flaws and how they may affect our decisions."

Albus nodded pensively. Harry could just see Albus was thinking it through, no doubt recognizing how some elements of Harry's Headmaster echoed his own history and the mistakes he had recently made.

* * *

As the meal drew to a close, Albus and Aberforth leaned aside for a moment and had a brief whispered conversation. Seeming to come to agreement, they then turned to Harry with rather intent anxious expressions on their faces.

"Harry," started Albus, "our discussion here has convinced us that you are quite knowledgeable in many things and might be able to advise us in a ... family problem. Many years ago, our sister Ariana suffered a grave mishap. It has left her unable to control her magic and at times it causes ... problems. We were wondering if you can help?"

Harry rubbed his chin in thought. He vaguely remembered this story in that scurrilous biography of Skeeter's. "Hmmm... a healing problem. My ... adventures have often seen me getting hurt, as well as people I care about. In self-defense, I've learned as much as I can about healing, both magical and muggle." Both brothers nodded in understanding. Given what Harry had described to them of his adventures, he would have to have been insane not to. "But I would need a great deal more information on this 'mishap'."

After a moment, Albus replied quietly, "Ariana was attacked by some muggle boys when she was very young. They'd seen her perform some small magic and they... tried to force her to show them how she did it. When she couldn't ... they hurt her very badly ... ever since she has problems ... controlling her magic ... it explodes out of her and can be quite dangerous. She's never obtained a wand or been taught its use."

"Hmmm ... there is a possibility." He looked at the brothers. "My 'Traveling' takes me to many different places and times, so I know things that haven't been discovered yet in this place and time." The brother's eyes opened wide as they considered that little tidbit. "Yeah, I'd rather that not get around if you don't mind. Could be dangerous for me if some greedy or power hungry person learned of it."

The brother's nodded.

"Anyways, some muggle healer's, doctor's they call them, study the healing of the mind of injuries from mental trauma and emotional problems. They call it psychiatry. It's rather a young field of study at this point in time, but I've studied it a bit to help me with my own problems.

"There is also a magical skill called legilimency that allows a skilled practitioner to enter and navigate the layers of another's mind. It just might be possible for me to combine the two and use it to help your sister."

"Is there any danger to Ariana? Just how skilled are you with this 'legilimency'?" Albus asked.

"While quite skilled at legilimency, I do not have great knowledge or skill with psychiatry," Harry admitted. "I am very confident that I could legilimens Ariana safely and without harm to her, and hopefully learn how she has been injured and what might be done to heal her. I promise that I will do nothing without telling you."

Albus looked at Aberforth, and seeing agreement there, nodded at Harry. "Very well."

* * *

Half an hour later, Harry gently withdrew from Ariana's mind and memories. He cast a small sleeping spell on her to help her to rest. Turning to the two brothers, he drew them to the side of the room so as to not disturb their sister.

"From what I can tell, there are three large problems. The first is due to the muggle teens that attacked Ariana as a little girl. They tried to force her to repeat her accidental magic. They were quite cruel and forceful and they terrified her. And they hurt her. It created a mental trauma that her mind associates with performing magic, resulting in a block against performing it. Shortly thereafter, your father left you and never returned. In Ariana's mind, this was a direct result of the attack on her, resulting in another trauma, reinforcing the block. And then there is the recent death of your mother. Ariana remembers it. She feels responsible for it. She blames her magic. That has traumatized her yet again. And the block has grown stronger yet."

"Is there anything we can do to help her?" Albus asked in a tone of voice that was devoid of hope. Clearly he did not expect that there was.

"Maybe. If we can alter those memories, change them into something less traumatizing, we can weaken that block and help her to become a fully functioning member of wizarding society. There are spells to erase memories, but altering them is something that is much more difficult. We will have to work this out quite carefully."

* * *

A week later, Harry walked away from the Dumbledore cottage for the last time. It had taken a good bit of time, care and daily visits to help Ariana. Fortunately, Harry was rather skilled with the obliviate spell. Lockhart, in second year, and Hermione, during the Horcrux hunt, had proved its value to him. They had decided to completely obliviate the memory of the muggle boys attack, along with a small number of events of uncontrollable magic. Their father's leaving was altered to show he had contracted Dragon Pox and had died in St. Mungo's. Their mother's death was changed to show that she had died in a potion brewing accident. Ariana's mind had willingly accepted the changes, freeing her of the blame that was imposing on herself.

At the end, Harry thought he could see a change in Ariana's mental and magical core and he had told the brother's that. But only time would tell if they had been successful.

As he walked, Harry pondered why he had not yet Traveled on. There must be something that he still had to accomplish, but he couldn't think what it might be. There was nothing more he could do to help the Dumbledores. So why-?

 _Wait a second!_ He thought. _What happened to Grindelwald?_ Harry furiously thought back on what he could remember of Magical History and Skeeter's awful biography. He then turned on his heel and apparated.

* * *

Two days later, Harry Traveler crept into Mykew Gregorovitch's wandshop under his invisibility cloak. While Gregorovitch was busy with a customer, he used his version of the elder wand to quietly locate this current realities version. Pocketing it, he left twenty galleons and a note: _It was most foolish of you to bandy about rumours of owning the Elder Wand. It was bound to be stolen by some power hungry wizard. I will put it some place safe where it will do no one harm._

Harry then left Gregorovitch's shop and headed off down the road. Before he had taken a dozen steps, he disappeared in a blue light and phoenix song.

* * *

In the years to come, Albus Dumbledore thought back often on Harry Traveler.

In the months after his visit, Albus and Aberforth had indeed seen a change in Ariana. Her wild rages and the uncontrollable magical explosions that had caused so much grief disappeared, leaving the kind and sweet personality that the brother's s had so loved. And to the brother's joy, when Aberforth graduated from Hogwarts, she even asked them to teach her to use magic. Both brother's beamed with pride when Ariana bought her first wand, even if she was many years past eleven. She never did attend Hogwarts, being content to be home schooled by her brothers. And when Aberforth decided to open a restaurant/inn, Ariana happily went to work with him.

Albus himself saw changes in where he had thought he might be. He had received many offers when he had graduated Hogwarts and been considering taking a Mastery in Transfiguration, following a grand tour of Europe. Possibly following that up with a teaching position. He had been a tutor through the later part of his Hogwarts years and had greatly enjoyed it.

Harry Traveler's story and his description of the many problems in society that had led to two terrible Dark Lord's had given him great pause for thought and concern. And Harry's combining of muggle and magical knowledge and skill had inspired him.

He had decided to become a Healer.

And in the years that followed, Albus proved himself a brilliant if controversial one. He became extremely well-known for his adeptness at resolving physical and magical maladies, and everyone wanted him to be their Healer.

Unhappily for his patients, he also became equally well-known for his adeptness at pointing out the flaws and idiocies that had brought on their maladies. Few people wanted to be on the end of his biting wit. But even fewer were unwilling to listen to him lecture them, if it meant losing him as their healer.

And he was also known for not being content with just lecturing patients. He wrote newspaper articles on the problems in magical society and how to fix them. He spoke with and made friends with people of influence, promoting ways and means of doing things better. And if some of those articles and discussions detailed ideas for fixing things 'borrowed' from muggle society, well the magicals didn't need to know that.

All-in-all, society may have thought him quite mad, but he was far too valuable to them for his healing skills not to be listened to.

Through the following years, Albus kept watch for signs of the Dark Lords that had plagued wizarding society in Harry Traveler's world. He had grown quite concerned when the muggle world wars erupted and had spoken to influential people about the need to prevent those conflicts from affecting their society. Unfortunately, he never was able to be sure that his words had had any lasting impact. But he kept a careful watch and hoped for the best. To his relief and satisfaction, no Dark Lords emerged in his life time.

He was never to know that because of his influence, Gellert Grindelwald, lacking the power of the Elder wand, never managed to gain sufficient influence and power to become a true Dark Lord. He was arrested during the Second World War and died in prison for various crimes in his attempts to gain power 'for the greater good.'

Nor did he ever know that in early 1920, Marvolo Gaunt and his son Morfin Gaunt, outraged by Dumbledore's articles on inbreeding and how it was destroying wizarding society, attacked and killed the editor of the Daily Prophet for publishing them. They were arrested, tried and sent to Azkaban, where they later died. Merope Gaunt, 13 at the time, was adopted by her distant relatives through the Peverells, the Potters. In the care of a loving family, Merope blossomed into a kind and caring person. Due to her unfortunate countenance, she never married nor had children, but she had no regrets. Her family regarded her as a well-loved aunt, and her passing was greatly mourned by all.


End file.
